Faithless, Orkidea, and Chicane

Comprised of revered vocalist Maxi Jazz, multi-instrumentalist Sister Bliss, who electronically composes most of the music, producer Rollo Armstrong, and Jamie Catto, Faithless formed in 1995. Prior to Faithless, Rollo had earned success producing the club hit “Don’t You Want Me” under the moniker Felix, and remixing the likes of the Pet Shop Boys and Björk. The band’s debut single “Salva Mea (Save Me)” was issued in July 1995, and became one of the biggest dance hits of the year. With the success of “Salva Mea (Save Me)”, Faithless went on to issue the subsequent singles “Insomnia” and “Reverence”.

A year later arrived Faithless’ debut album “Reverence” was released on Rollo’s Cheeky Records and debuted at No. 26 on the UK albums chart. The album was succeeded by “Sunday 8pm” in 1998, and aided by the hits “Bring My Family Back”, “God Is a DJ” and Take The Long Walk Home”, reached No. 10 on the UK’s album chart.

The group continued their trend into the Top 10 with the subsequent album “Outrospective” in 2001, which reached No. 4 in the chart. 2004’s “No Roots” marked the addition of vocalist LSK to the group and became the band's first No. 1 album. Further guest vocalists included Dido, who is Rollo’s sister, and late jazz singer Nina Simone. The album earned rave reviews from the musical press and cemented the band’s position as a staple of British dance music.

Faithless returned in 2006 to release “To All New Arrivals” however despite contributions from Cat Power and Robert Smith the album failed to achieve the success of its predecessor. Ahead of the release Faithless issued the single “Bombs”, the video of which caused a stir for its depiction of war scenes in daily life. The band subsequently performed at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, before releasing the album “The Dance” in 2009. After an eight year break, Faithless returned to Glastonbury Festival’s Pyramid Stage in 2010, followed by a couple farewell performances at Brixton Academy in 2011.

Raised on a diet of electronic music and melodic classical composers including Jean Michel Jarre, Bracegirdle learned to play both the piano an guitar before he reached his teens. By the age of 12, determined to pursue melodic electronic dance music, the musician was crafting demos in recording studios to subsequently send to labels. Initially garnering attention under the moniker Disco Citizens in 1995, Bracegirdle released the Top 40 hit “Right Here Right Now”. In 1996 the name was changed to Chicane and the musician issued the four-track EP “Cyanide Music Volume One”, drawing influence from Deep house, new disco and Big Beat. A year later the EP “Offshore” was released catapulting Bracegirdle to notoriety and spawning the Top 20 UK single of the same name. The single “Offshore” also charted well across Europe, at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music Charts, and featured on a number of club-themed compilation albums.

Bracegirdle’s subsequent single “Sunstroke” also proved a popular release, after which Chicane issued his debut full-length “Far from the Maddening Crowds” in September 1997. Considered a highly influential album in the Trance music community, the record charted at No. 47 on the UK Albums Chart and spawned a number of dance hits. The producer subsequently issued the single “Saltwater” featuring Clannad’s vocalist Máire Brennan, which marked his highest charting single to date at No. 6 on the UK pop charts. A radio friendly remix of Bryan Adams’ “Cloud No. 9” was subsequently released after which Adams contributed heavily vocoded vocals to Bracegirdle’s next single “Don’t Give Up”. Debuting at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart as well as the Australian and Russian Singles Chart, the single represented his biggest hit to date.

The full-length “Behind the Sun” arrived in March 2000 led by the singles “Saltwater”, “Don’t Give Up”, “No Ordinary Morning” and “Autumn Tactics”. The record charted well in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, however was unable to match the success of its predecessor. Following a lawsuit with label Xtravaganza from 2002 to 2004, Bracegirdle left the label and moved to WEA in an attempt to release his third full-length “Easy to Assemble”, which was ultimately leaked online.

After signing with Universal Music Group, Chicane issued the single “Stoned in Love” featuring singer Tom Jones. Ahead of his third studio album, Bracegirdle promoted “Stoned in Love” with appearances on "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross", "Top of the Pops", "The New Paul O’Grady Show". The full-length “Somersault” was released in July 2007 on Chicane’s own Modena label. Earning mixed reviews the album featured the singles “Stoned in Love” and “Come Tomorrow”. The EP “Re-Work” appeared in the summer of 2009, after which Bracegirdle issued his fourth studio album “Giants”, dubbed as a return to form for the artist. The record was succeeded by “Thousand Mile Stare” in 2012, and “The Sum of Its Parts” in 2015.